This graph shows the total length of railroad tracks in each of the home fronts in 1861, at the outbreak of the American Civil War. From the data we can see that the Union States had over double the amount of railroad than the Confederacy, and well over ten time that of the Border states. This is was a significant advantage for the Union forces as they had a much better infrastructure for transporting men and supplies throughout the war.

This statistic represents the Class I rail mileage within the United States from 1990 through 2020. In 2020, the Class I network in the United States had a total length of around 91,773 statute miles. U.S. Class I Railroads Ever since the founding of the first U.S. railroad in 1825, freight railroads have played a crucial role in the economic growth of the United States. Throughout the country, Class I railroads make the U.S. freight rail system one of the best networks in the world. At the end of 2020, a railroad was classified as a U.S. Class I railroad if 2020 operating revenues were 900 million U.S. dollars or more. The Canadian leading freight railroad companies, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific - with its subsidiaries Grand Trunk Corporation and Soo Line Corporation - operate as Class I railroads in the United States. The seven large Class I railroads, Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Canadian National, Kansas City Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern Railroads and Canadian Pacific, together with short and regional railroads are operating nearly 140,000 miles of the United States’ rail network. Union Pacific along with its main competitor, BNSF Railway, holds a duopoly over the railroad freight market. In 2021, Union Pacific Railroad transported over 26 million carloads and 411.3 billion revenue ton-miles.

As of 2020, Texas was the U.S. state with the largest railroad mileage, reaching over ****** miles. It represented around *** percent of the total mileage for the United States. Illinois and Ohio came second and third in the ranking, with the rail industry recording under ***** and over ***** miles in these respective states.

Graph and download economic data for Total Track Mileage of Railroads for United States (A02F3AUSA581NNBR) from 1916 to 1942 about railroad and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Rail Passenger Miles (RAILPM) from Jan 2000 to Apr 2025 about miles, passenger, railroad, and USA.

The statistic shows the miles of freight railroad operated by U.S. Class I railroads in 2015, by state. In that year, U.S. Class I railroads operated a total number of 2,048 miles of freight railroad in Michigan.

Graph and download economic data for Passenger Car-Miles Per Train-Mile, Class I Railroads for United States (M0361BUSM257NNBR) from Jan 1930 to Aug 1943 about railroad, transportation, and USA.

United States Passenger Rail: Train Miles data was reported at 2,036,406.000 Mile in Jun 2020. This records a decrease from the previous number of 2,037,397.000 Mile for May 2020. United States Passenger Rail: Train Miles data is updated monthly, averaging 3,309,065.500 Mile from Jan 1975 (Median) to Jun 2020, with 546 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4,840,304.000 Mile in Dec 1975 and a record low of 1,944,302.000 Mile in Oct 2000. United States Passenger Rail: Train Miles data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.TA003: Passenger Rail.

Graph and download economic data for Railroad Revenue Freight Ton-Miles for United States (A033CBUSA253NNBR) from 1916 to 1943 about railroad, freight, and USA.

In the 1800s, the spread of railroads enabled the growth and spread of the United States. Although slow by today’s standards, trains traveled more quickly than other forms of transportation available at the time. By train, it took roughly four days to reach San Francisco from Omaha, Nebraska. By contrast, it had taken covered wagons four to six months, and stagecoaches around a month. In addition to travel, railroads facilitated trade and economic growth. Prior to railroads, people relied on a system of roads and canals for transportation of goods and crops. But this system could be unreliable depending on road conditions, the weather, and many other factors. Trains brought products made in the factories of the East and Midwest to the rest of the country and carried farm produce and livestock to urban markets. The first railroad charter was granted to John Stevens in 1815, and several railroads were in service by 1830. Early rail development was haphazard, financed by individual investors and built without government oversight. Rail gauges, or the distance between rails, could be different depending on the company. This caused a lot of problems for connecting railroads, because only trains designed for that gauge could use those sections of track. Despite miles of track being built, people were generally still skeptical about the usefulness of railroads. In 1843, the Western Railroad of Massachusetts proved to Americans that trains could transport crops and other goods long distances at low costs. By 1861, there were 35,400 kilometers (22,000 miles) of track in the North and only 15,300 kilometers (9,500 miles) in the South. Troops and supplies could be transported quickly using trains. Many battles, like the Battle of Bull Run, were fought over control of Southern railway depots, and tracks were used to move both Confederate and Union soldiers to battles. After the Civil War, railway construction increased significantly. In 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act with the goal of building a transcontinental railroad. The first, built by the Central Pacific Railroad Company in the West and the Union Pacific in the Midwest, was completed in 1869. Following roughly the route previously taken by the Pony Express and the California Trail, the route was called the Overland Route. Construction was dangerous, as rail crews had to cross mountains, rivers, and other difficult terrain. For this work, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific relied mainly on immigrant labor, recruiting Chinese immigrants in the West and Irish immigrants in the Midwest. Formerly enslaved people and Mormons were also part of these crews. Between 10,000 and 15,000 Chinese workers completed an estimated 90 percent of work on the Central Pacific’s portion of track, facing racism, violence, and discrimination. Chinese workers were often paid less than white workers and were given the most undesirable and dangerous jobs. The Overland Route was one of the first land-grant railroads. To fund construction of such a long and expensive project, the U.S. government gave railroad companies millions of acres of land that they could sell for profit. Following this model, many more railroads were built, including four additional transcontinental railroads. These new railroads took southern and northern routes across the country. In addition to connecting existing cities on the West Coast to the rest of the country, the railroads also influenced where people settled. Trains made multiple stops to refuel, make repairs, and take on more food and water. In return, towns grew around these stops. More than 7,000 cities and towns west of the Missouri River started as Union Pacific depots and water stops. In 1890, the U.S. Bureau of the Census announced that the “Frontier was closed.” The railroads had played a large role in that milestone. This dataset was researched and built by Dr. Jeremy Atack, Professor Emeritus and Research Professor of Economics at Vanderbilt University. His procedure and sources, as well as downloadable files, are documented here.

In 2023, passengers traveled around 6.1 billion miles by Intercity/Amtrak. Amtrak, also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, is a publicly funded service. Amtrak struggles to break even Founded in the early 1970s, Amtrak receives federal and state funds and operates throughout North America, with its longest route spanning from Chicago to Los Angeles. Although ridership on Amtrak’s services had been increasing, it dropped by almost 50 percent during unprecedented lockdown restrictions in 2020. Ridership began rising again in 2022 but has not yet, regained pre-pandemic levels. To help offset the negative effects of Covid-19, the rail operator received around one billion U.S. dollars’ worth of federal financial aid. Following this financial, setback, Amtrak recorded its best-ever year in terms of revenue in 2023, which amounted to roughly 3.6 billion U.S. dollars. The rail operator's operating expenses grew even more quickly, though, totaling around 5.4 billion U.S. dollars for the same financial year. On track for high-speed rail Amtrak has decided to work together with European rolling stock manufacturing giant Alstom to produce high-speed train equipment and subsequently expand the Acela Express service. The contract is said to be worth around 2.45 billion U.S. dollars, and work will carry out on the Northeast Corridor, where the line generating the greatest revenue stretches from New York to Washington D.C. This regional rail corridor is the nation’s busiest passenger intercity rail line, and the new trains, which will be able to travel at speeds of almost 300 kilometers per hour, will serve to increase capacity on the network.

In 2023, BNSF Railway was ranked first among North American railroad companies, with over ************ carloads of freight transported. Focus on Norfolk Southern Railway Norfolk Southern Railway is one of the ***** U.S. Class I freight railroads operating on approximately ****** miles of tracks in the Southeast, East, and Midwest of the United States. It began operations in 1982 under the parent company, Norfolk Southern Corporation, and has been headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia since 2021. The company is a major transporter of coal, automotive, and industrial products, operating a fleet younger than the average age of the North American locomotive fleet. In the 2022 fiscal year, the company employed around ****** people. In that same fiscal year, it generated almost **** billion U.S. dollars in revenue from its three major business lines – general merchandise, intermodal, and coal. Commodities such as chemical, agricultural, metal,revenue share and construction products make up the railroad’s highest share of revenue. The railroad is among the leading North American railway company in terms of revenue-ton miles and carloads. According to Forbes, the company was valued at around ***** billion U.S. dollars in 2024, ranking it fifth among the world’s largest railway companies. In April 2016, a proposed merger worth almost ** billion U.S. dollars was dropped when Canadian Pacific Railway failed to acquire Norfolk Southern after facing heavy resistance from other peer railway companies.

Graph and download economic data for Revenue Per Passenger-Mile, All Railroads for United States (A030CAUSA259NNBR) from 1888 to 1916 about railroad and USA.

United States Railway Length: Light Rail data was reported at 1,958.000 Mile in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 1,893.000 Mile for 2015. United States Railway Length: Light Rail data is updated yearly, averaging 996.000 Mile from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2016, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,958.000 Mile in 2016 and a record low of 482.600 Mile in 1990. United States Railway Length: Light Rail data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.TA006: Railway Length.

In 2019, U.S. class I railroads hauled freight an average of ***** miles, a slight decrease from ***** miles in the previous year. In 2018, U.S. class I railroads transported freight over *** trillion revenue ton miles.

In 2023, the commuter rail network constituted the largest length within the transit rail system mileage in the United States, amounted to ***** statute miles. During the same year, the mileage of the light rail network in the U.S. amounted to ***** statute miles.

United States Railway Length: Commuter Rail data was reported at 7,745.000 Mile in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 7,697.000 Mile for 2015. United States Railway Length: Commuter Rail data is updated yearly, averaging 6,831.000 Mile from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2016, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7,795.000 Mile in 2014 and a record low of 3,682.000 Mile in 1996. United States Railway Length: Commuter Rail data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.TA006: Railway Length.

United States Passenger Rail: Passenger Miles data was reported at 69,098,428.000 Mile in Jun 2020. This records a decrease from the previous number of 69,098,462.000 Mile for May 2020. United States Passenger Rail: Passenger Miles data is updated monthly, averaging 468,918,387.000 Mile from Jan 1975 (Median) to Jun 2020, with 546 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 681,357,191.000 Mile in Jul 2013 and a record low of 1,974,634.000 Mile in Dec 1985. United States Passenger Rail: Passenger Miles data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.TA003: Passenger Rail.

United States - Rail Freight Intermodal Traffic was 1128119.00000 Ton Miles in May of 2025, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Rail Freight Intermodal Traffic reached a record high of 1276792.00000 in January of 2021 and a record low of 702762.00000 in October of 2002. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Rail Freight Intermodal Traffic - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

In 2023, Union Pacific's trains reached an average speed of about 24.2 miles per hour. The average speed is influenced by network fluidity. Union Pacific as a market leader As of May 2024, the U.S. railway company was ranked the largest in the world at a market value of just over 149 billion U.S. dollars. The company initiated a program to repurchase its own shares in 2010. As a result, the number of shares outstanding declined to 622 million in the 2022 fiscal year and Union Pacific's earnings per share increased to 11.21 U.S. dollars. Freight revenue in North America With the longest rail network in the world, the U.S. capitalizes on its railway by transporting commodities such as agricultural and intermodal products across its rail routes. In the 2023 fiscal year, Union Pacific reported that industrial commodities (comprising industrial construction, chemicals, among other things) contributed the most to freight revenue. Revenue streams for Canadian National Railway in the same year reveal that intermodal commodities and agriculture were among the commodities that boasted the highest freight revenue.